The lion and the bull have been fighting, locked in stone, for nearly 2,500 years—ever since an ancient sculptor carved them into a slab of black limestone and set them into a
monumental staircase at Persepolis, the royal center of the great Achaemenid Empire. The two animals were meant to reflect the prestige of this vast Persian empire, which fell in 330 B.C. when Alexander the Great sacked and burned Persepolis and its opulent palaces. The giant stone relief remained there among the ruins until 1931, when the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute began a landmark excavation of the site—and gave the lion and bull a second life.
For the past 80 years, the 4,000-pound stone relief was on loan to the Boston Museum of
Fine Arts. But it has returned to the University of Chicago in honor of the OI’s 100th anniversary as one of the world’s foremost research centers on the civilizations of the
ancient Middle East. The rare artifact is available for public viewing at the Oriental
Institute Museum starting on September 28th, when the OI will host a public celebration—the first in a yearlong series of centennial events open to the University community and the general public.
Prof. Christopher Woods, director of the OI, discusses excavation work done in
Persepolis and the significance of the ancient relief.
Video by UChicago Creative
“We are thrilled to have this magnificent relief back in Chicago to help celebrate the OI’s
century of transformative research on the ancient Middle East,” said Christopher Woods,
director of the OI and the John A. Wilson Professor of Sumerology. “The beauty and
majesty of the relief just leaps out at you.”
The relief dates to about the fourth century B.C., when Persepolis stood as the ceremonial
center of the Achaemenid Empire, which spanned much of the ancient Middle East.
“Looking at this monumental imagery gives you insights into the imperial ideology—how the Achaemenid kings conceived of themselves and the identity they wanted to project,” said Woods, a leading scholar of Sumerian language and writing.
“The image of a lion and bull in combat has a long tradition in the ancient Middle East,
stretching back thousands of years,” said Jean M. Evans, chief curator and deputy
director of the OI Museum. “In the relief, these noble and powerful animals are
marshalled to reflect the power and prestige of the empire.” The 4,000-pound stone relief was recently returned to the OI for public viewing.
Photo by Jean Lachat

Rising to power in approximately 550 B.C., the Achaemenid Empire was the largest
empire the world had known; its extensive central administration set the model for later
empires and is an essential piece of understanding the journey of human civilization. But
after just two centuries, Persepolis—and the empire—fell when Alexander the Great’s
armies sacked the city in 330 B.C.
According to Roman historian Plutarch, it took 20,000 mules and 5,000 camels to carry
away the treasure Alexander’s army looted from Persepolis. Left behind, however, were
columns and halls, staircases and gates—all finely carved by the craftsmen of the
Achaemenid royal court.
Many of these were still standing two millennia later, when the OI began a pioneering
excavation that spanned eight years and required hundreds of workmen. Over the multi-
acre site, the excavation uncovered everything from the kings’ cups and bowls to the
treasures looted during the Achaemenid conquests of other kingdoms.
“The beauty and majesty of the relief just leaps out at you.”
—Prof. Christopher Woods, director of the OI
Hundreds of cuneiform tablets, preserved by their baking in the fires that consumed the
rest of the city, filled out the details of life in ancient Persepolis. From them, scholars
learned everything from land deals and taxes to how much haoma, the sacred intoxicating
drink, should be used during religious services.
While much of what was excavated remains on site at Persepolis, several large pieces,
such as the head of a colossal bull that once guarded the Hundred-Columned Hall, in
addition to smaller finds, were given to the OI by Iranian authorities in recognition of the
work that went into uncovering and preserving the ancient site and were shipped to
Chicago, where they have been on display at the OI Museum for nearly a century. The
relief of a lion and bull in combat, however, went on long-term loan to Boston Museum
of Fine Arts. In honor of the OI’s centennial, the Museum made plans to bring the stone relief back to Chicago.

According sofiaglobe archaeologists have found a bronze statuette of a ram’s head, said to date from the sixth century BCE, on St Cyricus Island off the coast of the town of
Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. The statuette, the only one of its kind found there to date, was brought by the founders of Apollonia, the ancient name of Sozopol, according to a report by Bulgarian National Television.
Archaeologists have reached a layer that dates from the time of the first Apollonians. The
town was founded in the seventh century BCE by Greek colonists from Miletus.
The head of the dig team, Associate Professor Krustina Panayotova of the National
Archaeological Institute at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, said that the statuette was
found in a pit where ritual drinking vessels were found, evidence that the first generations
of Apollonians offered gifts to their gods at the spot.
Although Apollonia has been studied for many years in dozens of archaeological
expeditions, no bronze objects have been found so far. Bronze from later eras has not
been found, even though there were copper mines nearby, used by the first settlers, the
report said.
Panayotova said that bronze was a metal that was much used. It is believed that the statue of Apollo, which was 12 metres high and from which the town took its name, may have been smelted for use to make cannons in later centures.
She said that the ram was a sacrificial animal, offered as a gift to the gods. “It is quite
possible that the statuette was brought here from Miletus.”
Along with the bronze head, many drinking vessels and jars made of fine ceramics have
been found. Apart from the workmanshop, the wild goats painted on them accurately suggest the date, and the place where the first settlers came from, the report said.
Research fellow Professor Margarit Damyanov said that the artefact was northern Ionian.
There was also hand-made ceramics, characteristic of the Thracian style, he said.

“Although attracted by the copper mines and natural resources of the area, the first
settlers in Apollonia apparently worked and lived in harmony with the local Thracians,”
Damyanov said.

By Philippe Bohstrom
The Minoans and their capital Knossos weren’t incinerated by volcanic blast from Thera
or flattened by quake as thought, but tellingly: their writing system changed.
The mystery of what happened to the Minoan civilization has tormented archaeologists
for over a century, and the tale has now taken a new twist. Nothing happened to them, say
archaeologists who have been excavating the island of Crete for over thirty years.
This extraordinary people, who produced palatial architecture unparalleled in the Aegean
region at the time, were not immolated by the volcanic eruption of Thera as once thought,
crushed by earthquake , or squashed by Mycenaean Greece as more recently supposed.
Rather, the Minoans, who had for crushed by earthquake , or squashed by Mycenaean Greece as more recently supposed.
Rather, the Minoans, who had for centuries wielded influence throughout the Aegean, did
experience earthquakes that rattled them, were indeed badly weakened by the volcanic
blast from Thera on the nearby island of Santorini, and did experience the unamiable
attentions of the mainland Greeks.
But although the two cultures appear to have struggled, over time the elite elements of
both became virtually indistinguishable, after 1450 B.C.E., if not earlier. Minoan
influence as such would recede and the by-then-Mycenaeanised islanders would soldier
on until the great collapse of civilization around the Mediterranean Basin, around 1,200
B.C.E. It bears adding that archaeologists had once thought the Minoans must have “come from somewhere else” because of their advancement compared with the surroundings. But genetic analyses in 2017 concluded that both the Minoans and Mycenaeans descended from the stone-age farmers of western Anatolia and the Aegean, plus smidgens of heritage from the Caucasus and Iran. The two were very closely related.
Yet the destruction layers found in the main Minoan city of Knossos weren’t the result of
Theran ash raining down 3,600 years ago but may be debris from Minoan resistance to
Yet the destruction layers found in the main Minoan city of Knossos weren’t the result of
Theran ash raining down 3,600 years ago but may be debris from Minoan resistance to
Mycenaean incursions, or possibly from local rebellions between 1470 to 1450 B.C.E.,
sums up Colin Macdonald, an archaeologist with the British School in Athens.
By the way, the Minoans they didn’t call themselves “Minoans”. That is a latter-day
name awarded to the prehistoric island residents deriving from their legendary king
Minos.

https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium.MAGAZINE-ancient-tablets-may-
reveal-what-destroyed-minoan-civilization-1.7809371

On the occasion of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly which taken place in NYC, UNESCO participated in several events of the Climate Summit and highlighted the role of education, science and culture in providing
sustainable responses.

The UNESCO reported that the Director-General supported the call of six South American countries to conserve and protect the Amazon, the world’s first tropical forest, at a high-level meeting on tropical forests: “The notion of common property whose transmission to future generations has been at the very heart of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention since the 1970s and is illustrated in places such as the Amazon but also in the Great Barrier Reef, the African tropical forests and the marine heritage”. The Director-General has therefore called for a massive emergency and investment plan for the areas, which are in the most critical situations, all over the world, by calling for the introduction of global education into school curricula from kindergarten to university.

WCHV and partners have been focusing on education as a major pillar of our
activities since our inception. On our website we have continued to include posts
and articles on heritage education and what schools and communities can teach the
next generation. In addition, we have also created educational videos which we
continue to use as an educational tool.

“Today peace faces a new danger: the climate emergency, which threatens our
security, our livelihoods and our lives. That is why it is the focus of this year’s
International Day of Peace. And it’s why I am convening a Climate Action
Summit.” – UN Secretary-General António Guterres
Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September.
The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of
peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.
The United Nations Member States adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in
2015 because they understood that it would not be possible to build a peaceful world if
steps were not taken to achieve economic and social development for all people
everywhere, and ensure that their rights were protected. The Sustainable Goals cover a
broad range of issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change,
gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice.
The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year
on 21 September. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution 36/37, the
General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to “commemorating and
strengthening the ideals of peace both within and among all nations and peoples.” For
the text of the U.N. Resolution,
Furthering the Day’s mission, the General Assembly augmented the original resolution in
2001, fixing the date on 21 September. For the text of this second unanimous UN
resolution,
Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all
differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.

The J. Paul Getty Trust will invest $100 million in the conservation of antiquities from ancient societies across the world, citing threats such as sectarian violence and climate change, officials of the Los Angeles-based organization said Tuesday.

The trust, which operates the Getty Museum, has long focused on Greek and Roman antiquities. This new program, however, is designed to expand the conservation efforts it underwrites to countries where they have not worked before, including Southeast Asia and Central and South America.

According daily sabah Archaeologists have discovered a new sanctuary preceding the ancient city of Troy in Turkey’s western Çanakkale province, which is expected to shed light on the details of ancient civilizations that inhabited the area.

Professor Rüstem Aslan from Çanakkale University’s Faculty of Archaeology, who leads the excavations at Troy, told the Anadolu Agency that they found the third sanctuary in the 156th excavation period.

Excavations at Troy, located near the village of Tevfikiye, were launched by Frank Calvert for the first time in 1863, Professor Aslan said, noting that the discovery of the new sanctuary is exciting as it has significant implications in terms of the history of Troy and Anatolia.

“In this year’s excavations we have come up with exciting results regarding the southern entrance to the ancient city of Troy,” Aslan said and added: “We came to the conclusion that there was a new sanctuary area in Troy especially during the Hellenistic Roman periods.”

Aslan said that the excavations prove the existence of a third sanctuary in the area.

The findings at Troy are expected to shed light on the relations of the city with the Anatolian and Hittite cultures, and its function in Western Anatolia.

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,500-year-old post office from the Persian civilization during excavations at the Oluz Höyük settlement mound in the village of Toklucak in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Amasya.

Professor Şevket Dönmez, who is an academic at Istanbul University’s Archaeology Department and who leads the excavations said their excavations in the past four years focused on the Persian period layer of the mound. “A monumental road leading to a sanctuary and a linked hall with pillars have been discovered in the excavations,” Professor Dönmez said, noting that from a design perspective, the road marks the first time such a detailed design from the Iron Age Anatolia was unearthed.

Dönmez noted that the architecture centered on a fire temple, which means that the Persians replaced the religion of their predecessors, —the Greeks-. Zoroastrianism, one of the world’s oldest extant religions, is believed to have originated from the prophet Zoroaster in what is now present-day Iran. The discovery of a temple for fire worship suggests the religion was present in Anatolia, as well.

The “pillared hall” became the center of this year’s excavations, as archaeologists believe the structure, located just a meter away from the fire temple, served as a post office for the Persians.

https://www.dailysabah.com/history/2019/08/24/2500-year-old-persian-post-office-found-in-turkeys-amasya